The Best of Verity Stob [electronic resource] : Highlights of Verity Stob’s Famous Columns From EXE, Dr. Dobb’s Journal, and The Register / by Verity Stob.

Life Before Guis (1988–1994) -- How Friendly Is Your Software? -- The Programmers’ Guide to Programmers -- Larn Yasel Programmin! -- POET’S Day -- The Maltese Modem -- Late One Night -- The Kraken Sleeps -- Twenty Things (Almost) You Didn’t Know ... -- Few Lend (but Fools) -- The Best Improve with Age -- STOB versus the Software Engineers -- Auntie Verity’s Hardware Help -- Underground Liff -- The Games We Play -- A Chance to Meet You -- Wot Any Bule Kno -- About ... -- Not Fairies’ Footfalls -- FLGMJLLGHQ -- In Glorious Verity Vision -- The Rasp of the Modem (1995–19100) -- I Want to Die -- Dear Bill -- Modem Tales -- Around and Around -- Four Yorkshiremen -- Email and Femail -- Morse Code -- I Prefer Tea -- Junior Makes Three -- Don’t Look Back -- Book of Anders -- The Black Eye of the Little Blue Techie -- Mr. Jobs Works Next Door -- Quality Street -- You May Start -- 8086 and All That -- The Browser -- Park Gates -- Et Tu Gnome? -- Let’s Parler Y2K! -- Yocam Hokum -- Bye Bye Byte -- Night Mail -- Cringing for Bobot or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About the Quality of My Work and Just Made Dreary TV Programmes Instead -- One Nostril Hair, 17mm, Grey -- The Dog’s Breakfast -- Book of Yoc-am (Contd.) -- Fair Play -- By Other Means -- Waltz$ -- Thirteen Ways to Loathe VB -- Claire’s Story and Other Tragedies -- Down the Pole -- Out to Lunch -- After the Apocalypse (2000–2004) -- Two by Two -- Big Iron Age Man -- Just William -- Downwards and Backwards with Dotdotdot -- Up with the Joneses -- Wherever He Goes -- The Devil’s Netiquette -- At the Tomb of the IUnknown Interface -- Double Plus Good? -- I Know This, It’s Unix -- Your Call Is Important to Us -- Way After 1984 -- Patter Song -- Roger D. Hubris Ate My Hamster -- State of Decay -- In Memoriam—Edsger Dijkstra, 1930–2002 -- Open Saucery -- Idle Thoughts of an Idle Process -- Fragments from a New Finnish Epic -- Stoblog -- We Don’t Guarantee That Using The Latest .NET XML Windows API Feature Can Metaphorically Speaking Put Bounce In Your Boobs And/Or Hairs On Your Chest (Delete As Applicable) But By Golly We Find It Extremely Hard To Imagine Circumstances Under Which This Will Not Follow As Naturally As Night Follows Day -- Soundtrack -- Damnation Without Relief -- Cold Comfort Server Farm -- ForgeAhead -- One After 409 -- Jam Today -- Borland Revelations -- Patenting by Numbers -- Confessions of a Spammer -- Previously Unpublished -- Solder Cellar—Kindly Accept Substitutes -- Lara’s Last Stand? -- Too Obscure or Rude.

Verity Stob is the comedienne of the programming world. She has been writing satirical chronicles of techie life since 1988. Her column first appeared in the legendary .EXE Magazine, then Dr. Dobbs' Journal, and it now graces The Register. For the first time, the very best of Stob's columns have been collected into one essential book. Discover why Mrs. Bill Gates calls in a programmer to fix her plumbing; find out about the Google computer that suffers from Tourette's syndrome; discover the shameful secret of the CEO who types his correspondence in CAPITAL LETTERS, and much, much more!